Visiting Friends in the Mountains

Vorokhta, Ukraine, 5/29/17, 8:30 PM

Yesterday, a little after the noon hour, I arrived in the beautiful village of Vorohkta in the Carpathian Mountains, having caught the morning train from Ivano-Frankivsk.

Now, later in the evening, as I'm writing this a train pulls into town on the track right beside my Guest House Hotel, a fabulous location as it's just 1/2 block to the train station and 1/2 block to the center of this small village and right next to the railroad tracks,

Last night I woke with a train going by and it shook the house a bit, but I don't mind. I love trains and having them near is a comfort, hearing the clickety-clack of their wheels and the low mournful sound of their horn in the night.  And thinking they may be headed to the far away cities of Lviv or Kyiv adds to the romance of the time and space they inhabit where I love to be.



In the early afternoon, I headed across the river and up the hill to drop in on the family that invited me into their home last year when I asked directions for the best trail up the mountain.   They would not be expecting me.  In fact, I'm sure they never expected to see me again as it is unusual for Americans to come to Ukraine and even more unusual for them to come to the Carpathians and to come back?  Not at all likely.


I found my way to their house up the hill and as I walked to the front door which actually is on the back side of the house from the trail I wondered will I find them here?   The door was closed even though it was a beautiful pleasant sunny day and there were no bugs, as there never are in this idyllic part of the world.

No one was outside.  I knocked lightly.

No answer.

I knocked harder.  Still no answer.  But as I walked back past the side of the house I noticed the windows were open and there was laundry on the clothesline.  So I decided to head up the mountain and come back later.  And so I could tell if they had returned I maneuvered the wire that looped around the gate that served as a latch so that it would be naturally moved to a different position should they return.

The walk up to the top of the mountain took me about an hour and a half and was hard work but the views were spectacular.

It was hot so I peeled off some layers and then became much cooler as I entered a forested area.  And as I progressed and at each bend in the trail, I kept hoping I was reaching the top but then beyond every turn, I could see the trail stretching still further to the next bend ahead and each time it did I said to myself I should turn back.

Yet I found myself becoming ever more determined to reach the top since by now I had come so far.

Then after a long walk up through the woods, I saw blue sky beginning to peek through the trees and surmised that I would soon be leaving the woods and that I was probably close to the top.


Indeed, soon after, I did break out of the woods and to my surprise discovered a dirt road and following it I saw the communications tower for which the road must have been built.   And then on top of the next hill, I could see the top of the ski lift and two tiny (because of the distance) figures hiking under it.

The tower made me think of the communication system they used here long ago with the great long horn which I have yet to see and hear but hope to, some day soon. With it they could spread word through hills of an invasion, a funeral or any other momentous event,


For a few minutes, I reveled in the view from the top and then as I began the descent down the trail I thanked God that he made going up a hill hard so that coming down could be easier rather than the other way around.

I told myself, to be careful as the roots across the trail as well its naturally rough condition should have made it easy to trip and fall.  And yet I don't think I once stumbled whereas in the cities in Ukraine I have stumbled particular in Odessa which, for all the glory of its structures, has the worst most dangerous sidewalks I have ever seen.

And it occurred to me that having had millenniums of walking trails we are perhaps far more suited to do so than to walk our relatively modern sidewalks,

Which got me thinking of the great beauty of nature.  The quiet here, the sweet smell of the crystal clean air, the birds chirping, a light breeze, the warm sun and the glorious views of the countryside were unmatched by anything I saw that man had created in Ukraine's beautiful cities or anywhere else for that matter.

In fact, as I walked yesterday and again today I found myself stopping just to listen and look and feel and completely experience being in the midst of such natural beauty as nice or nicer than any place I've been in the world.

My mind then turned to the, hopefully, coming reunion with my friends and the surprise and recognition I hoped to find,  And, of course, I wondered would they be there when I got there.

But, I never did get there.



Instead, I met a man coming up the trail and we struck up a conversation in Ukrainian as he spoke no English. And then I made out that he was inviting me to his home.  Well, I was a bit tired and thought maybe tomorrow.  But he answered yes to the Ukrainian word for "today".  And so I said to myself "why not".

So we proceeded back up the hill and then at a fork in the path went the other direction from where I had gone before and after a while, a beautiful red-roofed house came into view and I asked him if that was his and he said that it was.

We paused for a moment and he pointed out Mt. Hoverla the snow-capped tallest mountain in the Ukraine and the country of Romania on the horizon.

When we got to the house he sat down on a log and gestured for me to join him.   I wondered if he was going to invite me in. Then he made a phone call.

Well, he did invite me in and I guessed he had been calling his wife and his mother who were inside to alert them that he had a visitor with him.


Outside he had a bunch of chickens which is normal here.  Nice to have fresh eggs! And inside they had a cat and a pet rabbit.  The rabbit seemed like any other pet although when his wife put it in my lap it stuck me with its claw, but just slightly.



In a little barn, they had a hen laying eggs, a pig, a baby pig and a small bull or buffalo.

We had a limited although very nice conversation in Ukrainian as they spoke no English describing our families where I live how I came to come here etc.  Very satisfying for me to be able to use some of the Ukrainian I have been studying.  And especially nice as they seem to enjoy trying to communicate with me as much as I did with them.

They gave me coffee and food to eat and we had a number of shots of what I think was Vodka.  All in all a delightful time which couldn't have been better.

So nice to feel so at home with such nice people so far from home.

Eventually, it was time to go.  I thanked them and as I walked down the hill I waved goodbye to my host who stood at his fence waving back to me.


I decided not to drop in on my friends from last year but save that for tomorrow when I would be fresher and free from any effects of the shots of vodka.  But, as I passed their gate I was pleased to see the wire latching the gate was in a different position than where I had left it.

With luck, I'll visit with them once again.